


Comfort

by orphan_account



Category: Cinderella 2015
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 05:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4775360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before the wedding, Ella is plagued by nightmares about her past life and, knowing she can’t fall asleep alone, summons the courage to approach Kit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort

“Ella?” He was groggy from sleep, and did not have enough faith in his eyes to believe that his betrothed was now standing in front of him, clearly shaken up and possibly close to tears. In any other circumstance, Ella would not have trusted herself. It was one thing to spend the days with her betrothed, but nights might just be overstepping the mark. She would never dream of putting Kit in a difficult situation, however, unless she was quite honestly terrified. Her distress was obvious, heart hammering and breathing ragged for all the wrong reasons, when Kit opened the door. 

“Kit.” She breathed, and he could see, even in the gloom of night, the relief on her face when she saw him. “Kit, I can’t sleep.” Now, he had dreamed of her appearing at his door in the middle of the night, nightshift askew and golden hair lose, and uttering those exact words - except in all those dreams she wasn’t on the road to having a panic attack. “I had a nightmare and..,” There were tears in her eyes, just to add to the amounting evidence that she had suffered no ordinary nightmare. Despite their thin layers and the generally impropriety of an embrace at this time, in the doorway to his bedchamber, in their state of undress, Kit wrapped his arms around her and she clung onto him as though he might float away, never to be seen again. 

“You’ve been having them a lot, haven’t you?” His voice was a gentle suggestion in her ear, soothing her even more. She only nodded, afraid to speak in case she began to weep, burying her face further into his shoulder. She trembled violently, in an effort not to break down, and he feared she would lose her balance, an excuse to keep his arms tightly about her.

“Kit, I know it’s not proper, but..” Her voice was muffled by his shirt, but she was close enough to his ear to make out the words. “I need you right now.” Now, the way he imagined her saying this had a lot more force and lust. Now, when she had murmured those words, there was no desire in them, only a heart felt plea for comfort. He would no deny her it. 

“I don’t think you’ve seen my room.” He contemplated, taking her by the hand and closing the door slowly behind them, as if to give Ella an opportunity to leave. He wouldn’t try anything, obviously, but he didn’t want her to feel worse than she already did - simple things like that helped her remind herself she had a choice. “Our room, in a few weeks anyway.” He corrected himself. 

“It’s big.” She noted after a pause. Ella really couldn’t see all that much, no candles were lit (she felt rather guilty, he had clearly been asleep when she knocked) and the drapes were thick and heavy in preparation for the winter that was on their doorstep. Realising that he must be tired, she hadn’t even thought to check the clock in her apartments, but she knew it had to be passed midnight, Ella moved a little closer to the bed. 

“Do you have a preference?” Kit asked, noting her slight movement towards the bed. At least they’d figure this out now as opposed to waste time on their wedding night debating which side belongs to who. The difficulty was, with Ella so kind and Kit so chivalrous, they rarely expressed what they wanted, in the off chance someone else wanted it.

“No.” Ella replied truthfully. She had never really had a double bed, and so when she moved to the palace she just slept in the middle. “Which do you prefer?” 

“You can pick.” Kit offered, but by now Ella’s eyes had adjusted to the increased darkness of the room and could see that the right side of the bed was unmade. So she took the initiative to move around to the left side, feeling a little awkward that she was climbing into someone else’s bed. Kit followed her lead. 

“Do you want a pillow wall or anything?” He eventually offered, feeling more embarrassed than ever. Kit really hoped she didn’t think he’d get too familiar in the night, but if it made her feel safer who was he to deny her? 

“It’s fine, I trust you.” He could hear the encouraging smile in her voice, but deep down she was less convinced of herself. Hadn’t she imagined this scenario a thousand times over? Admittedly, it was a little bit more romantic in her head and ended with them in a heap on the floor, but it was similar in some aspects. 

Now, they may have loved each other, but that did not mean they were completely comfortable with the new arrangement. Both of them edged as far away from the other as they bed allowed, more for the sake of their partners privacy and personal space than for their own peace. This was completely unexplored territory, and Ella found herself curled in a ball facing away from him and Kit just lay perfectly still, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Good night.” The had both said at the same time, both exchanges short and curt. Ella rolled over, conscious of how much space she was taking up as she did so, to face him when she thought he was asleep - only to find his eyes wide open and fixed on the ceiling. Kit was almost paralysed, too scared to even look at the corner of his eye at her. 

Despite the physical distance, however, Ella felt stronger with him nearby, and was not so terrified to close her eyes as she had been. She had wasted maybe three hours gathering the courage to move, having woken in cold sweat with her mind racing. She regretted not coming to Kit immediately, and with a small smile remembered that it was only a few weeks until she wouldn’t have to sleep apart from him ever again. 

Kit woke in the early morning to the tossing and turnings of the beautiful woman beside him. At first the young king had been very, very confused, but after recalling the interruption to his sleep earlier on in the night he became concerned for her. It wasn’t long until her movements became violent thrashing, struggling through a battle in the shadows of slumber, and with a cry she woke herself up. 

Ella wasn’t aware of her surroundings at all. The only thing she could think about was the sound of shattering glass and the feel of kicks and blows, sobbing uncontrollably as her mind refused to calm down. Within seconds, however, she felt loving arms embrace her and pull her close, and she sobbed into Kit’s neck, and he kissed her head, squeezing his eyes shut. In time her heart slowed to match his pace, but she didn’t bother to remover herself from his grip.

“I was so scared…” She whispered, lips brushing against his neck. In any other situation this action would lead to something a lot more heated, seeing as she had just been tumbling about and moaning in his bed, but that night it was different. Ella was more vulnerable than she had ever been, and Kit was more in love with her than he had ever been - was that possible? 

“I’ll always be here.” Kit assured her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. It pained him to see the woman he loved so blatantly terrified and troubled, but he would never try and escape it. Right then she needed his love, and he would gladly give it for the rest of his life. 

For the third time in the last ten hours, Kit’s slumber was interrupted by Ella. This time, however, wad a lot more pleasant - the king being drawn from his dreams by a determined tongue running across his own. He felt her gasp when he returned the kiss, pushing himself up and she grabbed hold of his hair. They broke away hardly a moment after that, both fearing they would go too far. In the pale glow of dawn Ella admitted to herself that she wanted him, waking only a few minutes before the sun from a dream that was in every way different from her previous two. She blushed when she met his eyes, sure he knew of what her latest dream had been of. 

“Good morning.” 

“Good morning.” Ella replied, returning his ridiculously happy grin. “I’m going before the servants wake up.” She confessed apologetically and tried not to see the disappointment in his eyes. “Thank you.” She would not have slept at all if he had not been there. 

Kit watched her go, not moving from the sitting position he had obtained in their short kiss, pretending to not admire the curves of her form, so obvious beneath the thin nightshift. He failed, and he knew it even before she noticed her cheeks go an even bright red. His forlorn heart gave a summersault when she paused at the door, and she turned to look at him again.

“Kit..could I come back?” Her request was a simple one, if improper, and Kit responded immediately.

“Of course, my love.”


End file.
